


The trouble with kids (kids are trouble)

by thingcalledlove



Series: PTA Parents [1]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff and Crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 20:39:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18059675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingcalledlove/pseuds/thingcalledlove
Summary: Out of all her kids, Beth thought that Emma would be the least likely to get into trouble at school. Yet here she was. On the verge of being suspended. In grade 1.





	The trouble with kids (kids are trouble)

**Author's Note:**

> I always think I'm done with fanfiction. That I've given it everything I have and there is nothing left. Yet here I am. Again. This fucking show. I can't (stop).

Right now, Beth should have been three feet deep in a shallow grave disposing of an unfortunate incident with Annie and Ruby. Instead, she had to bail on that little adventure to drive over to the elementary school where her youngest, Emma, was apparently on the verge of being suspended.

What had her life come to?

Beth let out a string of curses as the light turned red, forcing her to smash down on the worn-out brakes of her ancient minivan.

She knew she had been more absent than usual in her role as a PTA mom these past few months, pulling out of events and fundraisers that she had been known for managing in order to launder money for a gang (and her own enjoyment if she was being honest), but had she really managed to become so blinded to her children that her angelic little six-year-old was getting suspended?

The light turned green and Beth floored it through the intersection. She made two right turns and then a left into the school parking lot.

Beth smoothed out the front of she shirt as she flung open and the door and marched straight into the office. She spotted Emma right away, sitting on a chair, legs swinging wildly with a determined little frown on her face. When their eyes met, Beth noticed the slightest little tremble of her lower lip. It honestly broke her heart.

“Linda,” Beth spoke stiffly, “Care to fill me in on what is going on?”

Linda sighed, tapping her pen against her desk. Beth’s years of volunteering at the school and being called in for the antics of her eldest made her a familiar face around these parts. Except today it wasn’t Kenny getting into trouble. It was Emma.

Out of all her kids, Beth thought that Emma would be the least likely to get into trouble at school. Yet here she was. On the verge of being suspended. In grade 1.

“It’s better if you hear it from Kira,” Linda confided finally, referencing Kira Lake, the vice principal. That lady was something fierce, inspiring fear in the hearts of these children, but Beth had always known her to be fair.

Beth looked over at Emma again, who was now in a heated discussion with the little boy sitting next to her. They whispered furiously back and forth, too quiet for Beth to make out much.

She tilted her head slightly, gaze focused on the side profile of the little boy. He seemed familiar, but Beth couldn’t quite place him.

“That’s Marcus,” Linda confided, noticing her stare, “Just started here a month or two ago. Sweet kid. Dad is a bit…intimidating, but also ridiculously attractive.” Linda fanned herself with her hand, while the blood drained out of Beth’s face.

She had just managed to put two and two together when the devil himself strode in looking like hell itself. His eyes narrowed when he spotted Beth. Things between them were still pretty rough after the whole 'trying to get him arrested' and the subsequent 'shooting Dean' thing. His eyes narrowed even further when he noticed Emma and Marcus, his son, conspiring with each other quietly.

Marcus looked up and noticed Rio watching him. The kid looked guilty, from what Beth could tell, but there was no fear. None of the impending doom that Beth was feeling, clearly.

The office door opened, and Mrs. Lake walked out looking every bit the part of stern vice principal. Her hair was wound tightly in a bun and her dress form fitting, but appropriately so. The outfit concluded with a pair of sensible heels.

“I’m glad you could both make it,” She said as a way of greeting, “Come on in.”

The kids took a seat in the chairs across from the desk, while Beth and Rio stood behind them.

“There has been a bit of an incident,” Kira stated pointedly, looking between the two kids.

“We’ve gathered as much,” Rio drawled a bit of sarcasm seeping out of her voice. Beth held back the urge to stomp on his foot to make him keep quiet. This wasn’t his domain, and Kira Lake ruled hers with an iron fist.

Kira, for her part, appeared to have ignored the little quip, probably a super power from dealing with sassy little shits all day long, and continued, “Marcus, would you like to tell your dad what happened on the playground?”

“Not really,” the kid replied with a frown, making Beth smile slightly.

“I’ll do it,” Emma volunteered sweetly, always eager to help when she could. Even when she was clearly in big trouble.

Without waiting for a response Emma dived in, “It all started at recess. I was out in the field picking dandelions because I wanted to make you a pretty crown, mommy.” She paused to look up at Beth and gave her a dazzling smile. Beth heard Rio huff out a small laugh beside her, but she did her best to ignore it.

“Anyways,” Emma continued, “I was doing that when a soccer ball hit me in the face!”

“It was an accident!” Marcus jumped in. Emma nodded, “It was an accident. But then the third grader who kicked it came running over to try and get it, and he just shoved me over just to get the ball.” Emma paused to sniff just a little bit. Marcus frowned beside her. Beth was tempted to applaud them both. They were really selling it here. She was just waiting for the catch.

“I told him to apologize,” Marcus added, “Because it’s not nice to hit girls, or anyone really! But he didn’t, and Emma was crying and then he started to make fun of her for crying even though she got hit in the face and then knocked over, so I shoved him.”

Beth noticed in her periphery that Rio was now frowning, his arms crossed over his chest looking every bit the disappointed father.

“I know I’m not supposed to hurt other people, dad,” Marcus turned to appeal to Rio directly, “but it was justified.”

Kira raised her brow in exasperation, “That may have been justified,” she said in a tone that implied that it very much was not, “But why don’t you tell them why you’re really here.”

“After Marcus pushed the other kid down,” Emma answered with another sweet smile, “I might have sat on him and punched him in the face. 10 times.”

“And I might have held him down, so he couldn’t punch her back,” Marcus added.

Beth looked at Kira, who just sighed, and the over at Rio who looked the opposite of impressed. It was shocking to see in a way, that a guy who was involved in such a violent lifestyle still had a zero-tolerance policy for violence at home with his kid. In another way, it made perfect sense. Rio was an enigma, and just as Beth thought she had him all figured out, he revealed a brand new layer.

“Emma, Marcus,” Kira said, interrupting her thoughts, “Why don’t you both go take a seat outside while I discuss this with your parents.”

The two kids rushed out of there like the place was on fire. Beth kind of wished she could have joined them, but alas, no. She was stuck here with Rio’s heated gaze, and not in the way she would had normally enjoyed.

“Marcus knows better,” Rio said finally.

“He’s a good kid,” Kira agreed with a nod, “But he does seem to have a bit of a hero complex. Always wanting to help the little guy…or girl in this case.”

Rio let out a dark chuckle that had a shiver running down her spine.

There was some twisted pleasure in knowing that Rio seemed to be raising his antithesis.

“I’ll tell you what,” Kira continued after a brief pause, noting something down on the paper in front of her. “The kids will have to serve a one day, in school, suspension. The other parents will want to know that Emma and Marcus did not get off scot free. However, I will not be filing the suspensions in on their permanent records. I don’t want to mar the records of two exceptionally well-behaved kids because they dealt with a bully in an inappropriate manner. But it cannot happen again.

“It won’t,” Rio and Beth replied simultaneously.

The walk out of the school was awkward. Beth had kissed Emma goodbye and told her to be good. Rio gave Marcus a stern talking to, but then ruffled his hair on his way out, so clearly, no love lost there.

“Your kid is being a bad influence on mine,” Rio drawled out finally as they reached their cars, parked right next to each other.

“Because you’re such a positive role model?”

“Unlike some people, sweetheart, I don’t have a problem keeping my work and personal life separate.”

Beth felt that jab harder than she would have admitted.

“Maybe I’d have more time to parent if I wasn’t being coerced back into a life of crime.”

“Then don’t leave a mess for everyone else to clean up. You want out? Get out. After you deal with your shit.”

“You won’t let me out,” Beth countered with a fire in her eyes, stepping in close, “because you got used to having me around. Because you need me. You rely on me to do the stuff that no one else in your organization can do.”

“Giving yourself a lot of credit there, Elizabeth.”

“I deserve it.”

Rio stepped back, assessing her from head to toe, eyes snagging on her lips for the briefest of seconds before moving on.

Beth watched him unlock his car, but he hesitated before getting in, tapping the roof gently.

“Maybe you do.”

Beth felt her lips quirk up slightly as she got into her minivan and navigated her way off of school property. She had a body to dispose of.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feedback, constructive or otherwise, is always welcome!


End file.
